Three Hours
by Trafalgar Neo
Summary: A red gem. A mysterious fox. And one hot titan fighter lands in Lena's lap for three hours. (short story that no one apparently likes. Yeah this one was bad.)
1. Strange Visitors

Strange Visitors

"We're almost there."

Lena groaned at the sound of her mother's voice breaking into her restless nap. Pushing up on the seat, she sat up straighter and looked out the window. They were passing through a small neighborhood with cookie cutter houses. All of them painted light tan or white colors with soft blue or green roofs. Very boring in her opinion. "Great. I've always wanted to live in a box of cookie cutters. Doesn't anyone around here have any individuality and know how to use paint properly?"

"Well, you have plenty of individuality," Mom said.

"That's right, Little Artist," Dad said. "You're going to love it here."

"Yeah, right," Lena said. Her hand went to the top of her dog's head when the animal laid his head on her lap. "I loved the place we use to live. You know, _home_?"

"Honey, you know we've talked about this for several years," Dad said. "You knew there was a high possibility that we were going to inherent this castle."

"That didn't mean you had to uproot me in the middle of my _sophomore_ year," Lena growl. Slumping down in her seat, she rolled down the window, blocking out her mother's sigh.

"We really are sorry, Lena," Mom said. "You'll make new friends. You've always been good with people."

"So excited," Lena said, slumping in her seat. "Make new friends only to be separated from them in two and a half years. Why bother?"

"Well, you love castles," Mom said.

"Living in a castle doesn't replace living and breathing _friends_ ," Lena said.

"Then you can invite your new friends over once we're settled," Dad said.

"You two are ridiculously optimistic," Lena said, resting her head on the side of their truck. The passing world blurred in her eyes. She didn't care about any of it. "I don't want any new friends. I want my old friends."

"This move is a good opportunity for all of us," Mom said.

"What opportunities?! Even if there was some, none of that means anything if you don't have friends to share it with!" Lena said. "I want my friends back! I want my room back! I want my life back!" She pulled out her cell phone to check her messages, ignoring what her parents said after that, something about living in a bigger town would open plenty of opportunities for her artwork or something like that. She focused on her phone, unsure why she checked the devise in the first place. Her friends would have been in P.E. right now. And they were scheduled to play dodge ball today. It was fairly rare for their class to play dodge ball. They always got too competitive when they played it. And her best friend, Melfina, was one of their best players. She knew without a doubt that Melfina would nail several of their classmates, mostly the guys, right on the nose. And she would miss all their whiney because a girl whooped them.

"Lena, give this a chance," Dad said. "You're going to love this place."

"Yeah, right," Lena mumbled, wondering if her friends were missing her as much as she was missing them. She shoved her phone back into her pocket and turned her attention back out the window. The cookie cutter houses tapered of to a wooded path. It winded around like a river before finally revealing the castle they were aiming for. Her heart leaped a bit. She did love castles. She drew them all the time. And when she wrote stories they always had a castle in them. This one was different from ones she normally wrote about. Her castles always had smooth crystal like texture. This one was more medieval. Built with stone and wood, and oddly looked in good condition despite the vines growing all over it, the shaggy looking yard over run by weeds, and the fact this thing had been standing for a couple of thousands of years or so.

"We're here!" Dad sang as he pulled the truck to a stop.

"Yippee." Lena rolled her eyes. Reluctantly, she pressed the release button on her seatbelt. It clicked. Slowly she allowed the strap to slide over her chest then her shoulder before reaching for the handle. She paused when her fingers touched the cool silver bar that would lead to her new life. If she opened the door it meant that her old life, her real life was over. She dropped her hand down to the seat, wondering how long she could delay the inevitable.

"Get out of the trunk, Lena." Mom tapped on the window as she passed it to go to the moving van.

Apparently, not along at all as her dog whined, that whine that let her know he had to pee and was itching to sniff the new area. "Et tu, Max?"

Grabbing the handle, she pushed the door open slowly, wishing a strong wind would blow it shut, keeping her locked inside forever. Her dog jumped over her lap and to the closes patch of grass to do his business. She closed the door after practically spilling herself out of the seat. Her eyes ran over the shaggy ground. It was going to take at least a week to get the yard to at least look presentable. Her mom and dad would handle that. They were use to working on appearances for houses like this, it was their job, expect this one is a castle not a house. "Calling this place home is not going to happen. I hate it."

"So you are the one who have inherited this castle," a voice said.

"Huh?" Lena turned her eyes to the voice. Standing to her left was an old woman wearing a plain purple dress, a white shawl, and her grey hair pulled up into a bun. "Where…where did you come from?"

"It's nice to meet you." The woman smiled, pulling her wrinkles up towards her sparkling grey eyes. "My name is Haley Zoe." She pointed her cane towards an opening in the trees at the front of the castle just off to the right a bit. "I live just down the forest path there."

"Uh, hi," Lena said. "I'm Lena Stone. My parents are behind the moving van at the moment if you want to meet them."

"That's all right," Haley said. "I'm sure I'll meet them soon enough. So did I guess correctly? You and your family inherited this place?"

"My parents did," Lena said. "I, of course, got dragged along."

"You don't sound very pleased to be here," Haley said.

"Really?" Lena's eyebrows rose. "And I was trying so hard to hide it."

Haley chuckled. "Ah, to be young and sarcastic. Have you thought that maybe this is where you were meant to be?"

"I've heard similar things like that plenty of times from my parents since they told me we were moving here," Lena said with a deep frown. "It doesn't change the fact they ripped me away from my home and the middle of my sophomore year to dump me in this place for two and a half years before going off to college."

"Oh, you're going to college?" Haley asked.

"Maybe." Lena shrugged. "I never really put much thought into it. Not much interests me."

"Oh, that's a shame," Haley said. "The world is full of wonderful surprises and adventures. You really should take it by the horns and go right after it."

"Adventures?" Lena blinked. "You're kidding right? I was having an adventure with my friends back home. And now I'm stuck here with nothing but my sketchbook and my dog as my only friends."

"Oh so you can draw," Haley said.

"Yeah." Lena shrugged. "Just a hobby. I have no interest in making it a career or anything."

"Too bad," Haley said. "I hear you can make quite a lot of money in the art industry."

"Maybe if you get a job making costumes for a famous movie actor or something," Lena said. "Other than that, you can't make much. The place you live has a huge impact on that as well."

"And how did you make it back home?" Haley asked. "Did you ever sell any of your artwork?"

"A few pieces," Lena said.

"Perhaps you'll have better luck here," Haley offered.

"You can't be serious," Lena said.

"Sometimes you can be looking at a good thing and not even noticed," Haley said. Her eyes dropped down to Max as the dog finally noticed the old woman. "You're such a cutie." Max licked her outstretched hand. "And really friendly too. He's a golden retriever, correct?"

Lena lifted an eyebrow at the old woman. "He is. And again I say, you can't be serious."

"Give this place a chance," Haley said. "I'm sure you'll find a wonderful adventure here that will change your life forever. Take a chance and explore this castle. You may find it holds many forgotten secrets of the past. Once that will ultimately change your future."

"Okay," Lena drawled. She couldn't help but wonder what loony bin this lady escaped from and if the woman was dangerous or not.

"Lena!" Dad called. "Come help move things into the house."

"It's a _castle_ , not a _house_." Lena looked towards the moving van with a sigh on her lips before turning back to the old woman. The woman was gone. She looked around. No one outside of her family and the movers were on the grounds. "What the heck? Where did she go? She got super speed or something?"

"Lena!" Dad called.

"I'm coming!" Lena turned and walked over to the moving van. "You could at least let me pick out a room first."

"You can do that once everything is inside," Dad said. He grabbed a couple boxes and headed towards the castle. "The movers need to get going soon. They have a long drive home."

"This is their job," Lena grumbled to herself as she picked up a box. She turned and followed her dad's footsteps, which was easy since the grass was high. His boots pushed down the grass.

"We're going to have to mow the grass," Dad said just before he disappeared into the castle.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious." She paused to look up at the castle. The main woodened doors had already been pushed open. It was set right in the middle of two columns. Her eyes went on up to the windows. There were several of them. It made her wonder which room she would be staying in. Would it be one on a regular floor or on that was in one of the towers? Then she wondered if this place had bedrooms in the towers. For all she knew the rooms in the towers weren't bedrooms. She recalled some castles had prisons in the towers instead of down in the basement. Only time would tell. At the very least she was getting to choose her own room. She wanted one that was far, far away from her parents. Her parents ripped her away from her friends and home, she wanted to rip herself away from them.

"Stupid castle," Lena grumbled. She forced herself forward, angrily stomping on small yellow flowers as she went. Both her parents were gifted with green thumbs. But she couldn't keep a plastic plant alive. "There! Fix those!"

She entered into what she believed was the foyer. It was a large, square room covered in dirt, dust, a couple narrow rectangular table, old framed yet faded paintings, and now boxes decorated the walls. It was going to take days to get this entire place clean. There were several doors which led to who knows where. All she could see was a couple staircases through three of the doors scattered on the back wall. It made her wonder if they all led to the second floor and connected there or if the staircases led to single rooms or something else. A secret escape maybe?

"Just set the box anywhere," Dad said. "We'll move them into correct rooms when the workers are gone."

"But it's their _job_ to move this stuff where it belongs," Lena protested. "Not ours."

"We don't need them," Dad said. "We're not lazy. We can move this stuff to the correct rooms on our own."

"Tell me that again when one of us falls down a set of stairs and breaks every bone in our body," Lena said.

Dad laughed. "That won't happen. We'll make small trips."

"How can you make small trips with a bed?" Lena asked.

"It'll be fine," Dad said before heading back outside.

Lena sighed.

"Better get back to work," Mom said as she dropped of two boxed and headed back outside.

Lean groaned and forced her way back outside to gather up more boxes. One by one, minute by minute, they moved in everything they had with them, which wasn't really a whole lot. Lena ran her eyes over their possessions. Mostly all they had was clothes, a few keepsakes, their beds, her art supplies, cleaning supplies, and their kitchen supplies. Her dad wasn't one for having a lot despite having quite a bit of money from inheritance and their yard work business they owned. Her dad would always tell her that worldly possessions meant nothing since you can't take them with you when you die. She couldn't argue with that. Still, it would have been nice to have a few knickknacks lying around.

"At least tell me we're not going to clean this entire place today," Lena said.

"Of course not," Dad said, filtering through the boxes in his typical manor of trying to organize them. She could tell from his annoyed expression that the movers didn't do as he asked. He liked order. Anything out of place always bugged him. "We'll take a room or two, maybe three or four, each day and clean them until they're spotless."

"And keep cleaning them even though we're not going to use them," Lena said.

"Of course," Dad said, moving a box labeled 'kitchen' to the kitchen pile. "No one wants to live in a dump."

"No one wants to waste time cleaning unused rooms," Lena said.

"Lena, enough," Dad said in his warning tone. "We've put up enough of your gloominess now."

"That's not my fault!" Lena snapped. "You didn't even ask if I want to be moved here! You just did it!"

"That is enough, young lady!" Dad bellowed back. "If you-"

"That's enough," Mom butted in. "You two are always at odds. Lena, why don't you go ahead and pick out a room?"

"Fine." Lena spun on her heels and headed for the closet staircase. "Come on, Max."

Max barked and followed after her.

Walking up the stairs she's heard her parents talking.

"You let her sass way too much," Dad said.

"Honey, you have to admit that she does have a point," Mom said. "We did just up and moved her here."

"I know," Dad said. "But this is our home now. She has to get use to that."

"She might not," Mom said. "After all she's spent her whole life with her friends and we ripped her away from that."

Lena ignored them after that. It didn't matter what they said now. Their home was already sold. Even if they went back at this point, they couldn't go home. She sighed. There was no way she was going to call this place her home not matter if they were stuck here or not. She turned her eyes to Max. Her dog, she currently envied, had no clue what was going on as he bounced around the stairs, sniffing about each one as they went. "I hope that's not mice you're smelling. If it is, I'm getting an army of cats. I hate mice."

Reaching the top of the stairs, Max looked back at her and barked.

"I hope that means you'll kill all the mice," Lena said. She drug over fingers over his golden fur as she walked by him. She paused to look at the hall the stairs led her too. It appeared to be a wing all of its own since the hall had ends on each side. And there was eight doors along the stonewalls. "Might as well see if I like a room enough to pick one. Maybe I'll get lucky and get a room that I can easily escape from."

Max barked.

"Oh, right," Lena said. "We're not on the first floor. I wouldn't be able to carry you down. Well, then maybe I'll get lucky and we'll be on the opposite sides of the castle from mom and dad. That way we can easily sneak out."

Max whined.

"Don't give me that attitude," Lena said, walking to the closest door. "If you understood what was going on here then you'd be on my side. Or you had better be on my side." She bent down when he walked over to her. "If you're not, I'll turn you into a fluffy blanket."

Max licked her nose.

"You had better be agreeing with me." Lena stood back up. "Anyway, let's see what this room holds." She opened the door to darkness and dust that tickled her nose. No windows were inside of it, she had to flick on the light switch. In fact nothing was inside of it. Not even broken wood. "Looks like this might have been a storage room or something."

She closed the door and moved on to the rest of the rooms. Four more looked like storages rooms as well while the rest appeared to be rooms and one a bathroom. It was at that moment she noticed the modern updates that had been done to the castle. In her anger of having to move here, she never thought about not having electricity, but someone had put it in at some point. Still, she didn't like this place. It wasn't until the last room she went into did she feel that it was right. Walking into the room she found a broken old wooden bed frame in the corner of the room just as she walked into it. And the only window in the room was directly across from the door. And there was plenty of wall space to hang up her drawings. She glanced down at Max who was sniffing the room. "Don't tell dad I said this, but this room has potential. There's plenty of space for my bed and my drawing table at the other end of the room." She sighed. "Might as well get to moving my stuff up here to my new prison." She drug her shoe over the floor, making a line in the dust. "But first I need to clean this place."

Heading back out the door and down the stairs, she found her mom digging through a box of cleaning supplies. The woman lifted up upon hearing her enter into the room. "Did you find yourself a room?"

"I guess," Lena said. "I just need to sweep it out before moving my stuff in there."

"Good thing we have enough brooms," Mom said.

"Yeah." Lena rolled her eyes. She grabbed one of the brooms her mom had leaning up against the box.

"Would you like a bag to put the dirt in?" Mom asked.

"No," Lena said. "I'll just sweep it out into the hall. Then once I get the other rooms swept out I'll sweep it down the stairs then take care of it."

"All right then," Mom said. "We'll be around if you need us. Your dad is currently sweeping out our room."

"Where are you staying?" Lena asked.

"We found a room downstairs. So we're going to be staying down here," Mom said.

"Oh." Lena turned and wondered up back the stairs with the cleaning supplies in hand. "Well, I'm going to get plenty of exercise walking up and down these stairs at least."

Making it back to her room she found Max was still sniffing every corner of the room. "I really need to figure out away to have you help me clean. Maybe I can tie a duster to your tail. You wag it a lot. Maybe dust mops on your paws? Though you'll probably just think they're toys and play with them." She sighed when Max didn't react to her at all. "All well. Might as well get to cleaning this room. This might take a while."

Placing the broom down on the floor, she started sweeping. The bristle brushed over the floor, filling the room with its noise. It kicked up the dirt. She coughed and waved her hand in front of her face. "Nice."

She walked over to the window. With one finger, she easily flipped the hook latch and pushed opened the window. The rusted hinges squeaked. "That's going to get annoying." She leaned in closer to the hinges to find them just barely hanging onto the wall. "Dang. These are going to need to be replaced soon. At least no one can climb up here without a cherry picker. I don't have to worry about people coming in my window."

Lena looked out the window. A light breeze blew in, bring the fresh smell of the trees, freshly cut grass, and several flowers. She looked out over the tops of the trees. There was a large field beyond them. For some reason, it made her wonder what this place and these fields were used as before. Max's sharp bark pulled her attention back into the room. He was sitting near the door, tilting his head and wagging his tail.

"Okay," she said. "I guess I got lost in thought there." She turned to him and planted her free hand on her hips. "But don't think that means I'm starting to like it here. I was just curious as to what this place was used for. That's all. There's been no mention of royalty in our family. So maybe this isn't a castle at all. Maybe it's just a fancy house."

Max whined and tilted his head to the other side.

"Oh, just shut up," Lena said. Placing her broom back to the floor, she started sweeping again. A little while later she had a nice pile of dirt near the door. She started to sweep it out into the hall but paused when she remembered the closet. She walked over to it and opened up the door. Inside she found a chest that looked to be in good shape. "That's odd. This place is practically stripped of everything. Why would a chest be in here?"

She propped her broom up on the wall just inside the closet door and knelt down in front of the chest. She brushed her hand over the brass lock on the front. "I wonder if this lock still works."

She tried to pull the lock up, but it didn't work. She then glanced around the closet to see if a key could possibly be lying around. "I don't see any key anywhere."

She stood up, running her hands over the walls for a possible hidden cupboard or a loose brick. A stone shifted under her touch and clanked against its neighboring brick. She pulled the loose brick out. Inside of the small dark place were an old fashion skeleton key as well as a couple spider webs and one very ugly black spider. She cringed when the spider scurried along its web, right in the middle of the opening. Stepping away from it, she grabbed the broom and swept the thing away. "Stupid spiders."

Lena reached in and pulled the key out. She kneaded her eyebrows to find what appeared to be the shapes of wings overlapping on the key. "I wonder what that symbol means."

Bringing the key to the lock, she inserted it. A strange, slightly ominous, feeling washed over her when the lock clicked. She paused, uncertain to whether or not she should actually open this thing. She did. Flipping the lock upwards, she pushed open the lid. She exhaled with relief when nothing happen and only some strange holster looking contraption was laying inside of it. "I feel so silly now." She pulled the contraption out and looked it over. "But what the heck is this thing?"

She turned it over and over in her hands. It was rather heavy, with multiple slits where a gun hostler would hold guns, there were several worn straps around it, and some kind of mechanism that she didn't recognize. "I wish Tommy was here. He loves things like this. Perhaps he could tell me what it is." Turning it over again, the light caught on a red gem on one of the straps, beaming light back in her eyes. She blinked then turned it away from the light. "What's this?"

She reached for the red gem. She barely felt its smooth surface before a swirling red gust of wind erupted from it. The wind swirled around her. She dropped the contraption and stumbled out of the closet. The red wind followed her. Max, finally noticing it, barked wildly as he bounced around on his paws. Suddenly, the red wind swirled into a single spot over the contraption before a flash of light revealed a small fox. And if she remembered her science book correctly, it looked very similar to a fennec fox with its small head and large ears, but it's fur was white with a small tint of red at the points of its ears, paws, and tail.

It looked right at her and blinked curiously with its mysterious navy colored eyes. For a split second, she thought the animal was trying to pass a secret to her. But she didn't get to question it as the fox flared up with the red wind. The contraption lifted into the air. The red wind winked out and in its place now stood a young man with black hair. He now wore the contraption around his hips and chest and the slits in it were full of something she hoped wasn't deadly. He looked at her. She screamed, startled, and stumbled backwards onto the floor.

Max barked, but didn't advance on the stranger.

"Who did…how did…" Lena stumbled to find her words, but she was unable to form complete, coherent sentences.

He narrowed his eyes. Grabbing something from the contraption he wore, he clicked something into place then held out a sword to her. "Who are you?! How did you get into my room?!"

"Y-your room?" Lena blinked. No one was living here. How could he say this was _his_ room?

"Hey, Lena," Mom called from the stairway.

Lena's heart leaped into her throat. All she needed was for one or both of her parents to find a boy in her room, despite this not being _her room_. One thing her parents were adamant about on was not allowing boys into her room. And that came from a schoolmate having gotten pregnant one night when the girl's parents were out of town.

Jumping up, Lena dashed for the door and shut it before her mom could look inside. There was no way she could explain a boy literally popping into her room out of thin air, or red air in her case. She pressed her back against it, her heart pounded in her head and her heart, blocking out Max's barking.

"Lena?" Mom knocked on the door.

"W-what?" Lena asked. She wondered if her voice was as shaky as it sounded to her.

"What in the world is Max barking at in there?" Mom asked.

"Uh, a mouse ran across the floor!" Lena lied.

"Oh, okay then."

"Was there something you wanted?" Lena asked. "I'm kind of busy in here."

"Your father and I are heading into town to get some groceries now that the fridge is up and running," Mom said. "Would you like to come?"

"No," Lena said, trying to calm her voice, her heart, and her breathing. "I'm staying here."

"Well, all right then. If you really don't want to come I won't make you. But you should do some exploring before you start school next week," Mom said. "Is there anything you need?"

"No, I'm fine," Lena said. "Actually, the hinges and screws on the window are going to need replaced soon. They're really rusty."

"All right then," Mom said walking away from the door. "We'll pick some up while we're out. Be back in three hours."

"Okay!" Lena listened for her mother's footsteps to fade away before turning her eyes back to the black haired man standing in the room with her. She blinked, wondering when he had stepped out of the closet. He was staring at her with one eyebrow lifted before his eyes dropped down to the dog. Max was still barking at the stranger, but still had made no move to attack. She exhaled, glad that Max wasn't the type of dog to automatically jump at someone. Of course, Max was still a puppy. He had yet to turn a year old. Most likely he viewed this stranger as a potential new friend rather than a threat. She herself wasn't sure if this man was a threat or not. The weapons he clearly healed was pointing to a threat. Perhaps she should have let her mom in. She had done a really stupid thing by shutting the door and almost trapping herself inside with this stranger.

She was about to open the door and run out to yell for her parents, but the sound of the truck starting shortened that option. Her parents were gone and she was now alone inside of this room with a total stranger who was wielding swords. She swallowed. Would Max try and protect her if this guy attacked? Dogs typically protected their pack when they were in danger. So he should, shouldn't he? He was still a puppy. No, he wouldn't attack. She wouldn't let him. This man would clearly hurt her dog if he did. She wouldn't allow it. She would die protecting her dog. She just hoped it didn't really come to that.


	2. Strange Connections

Strange Connections

Lena swallowed. Her eyes remained locked onto the man in her room. She couldn't think. She had to think. She had to get him out of here. But how did he even get here in the first place? Max had stopped barking. His tail was now wagging as he moved closer to the stranger. The man's eyes dropped to her dog. Her heart skipped a beat. She said, "Don't…don't you hurt him."

"I have no reason to hurt your animal as long as he doesn't bother me," he said.

"G-good. He won't," Lena said.

"Fine." He put up his swords. "Now tell me what you're doing here? This is the Survey Corps headquarters. Normal citizens are not allowed in here."

"Survey Corps?" Lena asked. "What's that?"

The man frowned. "The Survey Corps protects the people from titans. We take expeditions beyond the walls to find information on the titans. Do you live under a rock?"

"I do not live under a rock!" Lena said. "Unfortunately, I live here!"

"It's impossible," he said looking her body over. "You are not properly fitted for the life of a soldiers. You have no muscles what so ever."

"Thanks a lot," Lena said. "And of course I'm not a soldier. Why would I be? I have no reason to join the army."

"Army?" he asked.

"Look, I don't know who you are, but you really need to get out of here," Lena said. "My parents will be back in a couple of hours. And my dad has strict rules about having boys with me when they're not home."

"If your dad has a problem with me being in my room then he can take it up with me," he said.

"Look, whoever you are," Lena said. "I have no idea what you're talking about. This place belongs to my parents. And lucky for me I got dragged along to live in this miserable place. I for one would be glad to give it back to you, but that doesn't mean my parents will. They love it here."

He scanned his eyes around the room before bringing his eyes back to her.

Lena swallowed nervously at his eyes piercing into her. "Look, um, who are you? What's your name?"

"Levi," Levi said.

"I'm Lena," Lena said. "And I really have no idea what you're talking about. I've never heard of this Survey Corps of yours. And I have no idea what the thing is you're wearing."

"It's ODM gear," Levi said. "Omni-directional mobility gear. We use it to pull ourselves up to the titans so we can cut their napes and kill them."

"That's nice," Lena said. "Never heard of all that either. Seriously you need to go now." He turned and walked over to the window. "Are you even listening to me?"

"What is this place?" Levi asked. "It looks nothing like the place I live. There're too many trees."

"I keep trying to tell you that," Lena said. "I have no idea where you came from. All I did was touch that gear inside of the closet. There was a red gem on it. With a swirl of light here you are. So just go back into the gear."

Levi turned from the window and entered into the closet.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Lena asked.

"This is the gear you touched?" Levi asked.

"That's what I just said." Lena stomped over to the closet and glared at his back.

"It's mine," Levi said.

"What do you mean?" Lena asked.

Levi turned back to her with the gear in his hands. He pointed at a couple of scratches. "These are identical to the scratches on the gear I'm wearing."

"But that's not possible," Lena said. "If that's really your gear and you're still here then there should be only one gear. Unless…it means you do return to wherever it is you came from."

"What year is this?" Levi asked.

"2018," Lena said.

Levi narrowed his eyebrows.

"So do you believe me now?" Lena asked.

"I guess I don't really have much choice," Levi said placing the gear down.

"Great," Lena said with a relieved sigh. "I think all we have to do is get that fox to take you back since it brought you here." She turned to the fox still sitting in the middle of her room. It blinked at her before making a mad dash to the window. It jumped out. "What?! You can't be serious! It stayed here this whole time until I said we needed it?! That stupid fox! If it wasn't necessary to get you out of here I'd skin it alive!"

"You're a bit of a hot head, aren't you?" Levi said.

"I am not!" Lena snapped. "I'm annoyed at having to be here!"

"Why are you here?" Levi asked.

"Because it's…never mind! We have to get after that fox before it runs clear across the country!" Lena said.

"Then let's get to looking for it," Levi said.

"Fine! Come on!" Lena said. She ran over to the door and flung it opened. Her shoes thundered on the stairs with her dog running beside her. Casting a glance over her shoulder she checked to make sure that Levi was following her. He was, his eyes focused and serious. Soon, but not soon enough, the two were outside in the yard. "Where is it? Where did it go?"

Levi walked passed her and looked around.

"Well? Any ideas?" Lena asked.

"No," Levi said.

Lena ran her hands over her neck. "Well, let's go looking through the woods. It's a fox. So it might be there." She headed towards the trees and walking along a lightly worn path. Honeysuckles floated on the wind but she didn't have time to stop and enjoy the smell or even taste them. She wanted to do that. It was a fun thing she used to do as a kid. Their home, before moving here, used to have a large honeysuckle bush growing along the fence. She sighed. "This is so stupid."

"Looking for a fox is stupid?" Levi asked.

"No, not that," Lena said.

"Then what's your problem?" Levi asked.

"Who says I have a problem?" Lena asked.

"You're moody," Levi said.

"How would you know?" Lena asked. "You don't know me."

"No, but you remind me of someone I use to know," Levi said. "She had a big mouth too."

"Hey!" Lena snapped. "I don't have a big mouth!"

Max scampered ahead of them, sniffing the ground.

"Yet you keep yelling," Levi said.

Lena opened her mouth to protest that but found he was right. She seemed to do nothing but yell lately. "Well, that's not my fault."

"Then whose fault is it?" Levi asked.

"My parents," Lena said.

"Why?" Levi asked.

"Because they forced me to move here," Lena said.

"You should have just stayed where you wanted," Levi said.

"It's not that easy," Lena said. "I'm not an adult so I can't do that."

"That's stupid," Levi said. "I've know kids younger than you who've lived by themselves."

"Maybe in your world, but not here," Lena said. She ducked under a low branch and walked down a small hill to a gravel road. "I didn't know there was a road back here." She glanced up when she heard a car coming down the road.

"Look out!" Levi shouted.

Air left Lena's lungs when he shoved her against a tree. "What the heck was that for?"

"That thing might have killed you," Levi said.

"Only if I stepped in front of it," Lena said. Her heart hammered her chest when his eyes locked onto hers.

"What was that beast?" Levi asked.

"It's called a car," Lena said.

"A car?" Levi asked.

"Yeah," Lena said. "You know a car? A vehicle that takes you places. You get in it and drive it?"

"You mean a carriage," Levi said. "But it has no horses to pull it."

"It doesn't need horses to pull it," Lena said. "It runs on gas."

"Gas?" Levi asked.

"It's…never mind," Lena said getting the feeling she would end up having to explain everything about this world to him. And she didn't have time for that. She had to get that fox and get him out of here. "Let's just get going."

The two continued on through the woods for thirty minutes without speaking to each other. Occasionally, Lena would kick at tree as she passed it and grumbled about how she hated being here.

"What's going on with you?" Levi asked. "And don't say it's nothing. Clearly something is bothering you."

"Fine," Lena said. "My stupid parents pulled me out of school in my sophomore year only to dump me into a new school for two and a half years before everyone runs off to college or whatever. That's what's wrong. They took all of my friends away for some stupid castle. That's all!"

"At least you're not being chased by titans," Levi said.

"Titans?" Lena looked at him. "What are you talking about?"

Levi opened his mouth and told her everything about the titans he had been fighting.

"You can't be serious," Lena said.

"I am," Levi said. "Why would I make something like that up?"

Lena tilted her head. She didn't know. The whole thing sounded so farfetched and yet she believed him. Something about his stern, intense, attractive eyes told her he was speaking the truth. Her eyes dropped to the gear on his body. That also spoke volumes. "Will you show me?"

"My gear?" Levi asked.

"I want to see how it works," Lena said.

"Fine." Levi turned to a tree and fired his gear.

Lena jumped at the pop the gear made. Her eyes barely managed to follow Levi as he sailed into the air and flew among the trees. "Amazing!"

Levi landed back down on the ground.

"That was incredible!" Lena said. "You must have some serious skills to be able to do that!"

"I guess." Levi shrugged. "I'm one of the more gifted soldiers among the Survey Corps."

"And you're not arrogant about it," Lena noted. "You're different from most guys."

"We should get going," Levi said. He turned and started walking again.

Smiling, Lena followed him. They walked side by side until the forest gave way to a small house with a yard filled with several flowers. In the middle of the yard was the old lady Lena had met before at the castle. They walked over to her. And much to their surprise the fox was sitting on her lap being stroked by her. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Well, hello there, Lena Stone," Haley said with a smile. "I didn't expect to see you so soon."

"Same," Lena said. She pointed at the fox. "Has that thing been here this whole time?"

"It came to me a little while ago," Haley said. "Such a sweet little thing, don't you think?"

"Yeah, right," Lena said.

"So I take it you didn't care much for it?" Haley asked.

"What are you talking about? Do you know what that thing did?" Lena asked.

"I've heard of this creature before," Haley said. "Supposedly it can bring someone from another time to this world." Her eyes went to Levi. A sparkling smile came to her lips and her eyes. "I see that it's true."

"Yeah, great," Lena said. "Now send him back."

"He can go whenever he wants," Haley said.

"He wants to go now," Lena said.

"Yet he is still here," Haley said.

"Please, enough with the mystery," Lena said. "Just let him go back."

"You don't want him to stay?" Haley asked.

"Why would I? My dad has very strict rules about having guys in my room when he and mom aren't home," Lena said. "We've been searching for that thing for over an hour. Levi has to go home."

"You still have time to spend with him," Haley said.

"Why in the world would I want to do that?!" Lena threw her hands in the air. "You're crazy, old woman!"

"There's some reason for me being here, isn't there?" Levi asked.

"Now you're catching on," Haley said. "You can go back once you finished your mission here."

"Perfect," Lena said. "Just tell us what that mission is so he can go."

"I cannot do that," Haley said. "It's up to you two to figure that out and get him home."

"You are nuts," Lena said.

Max ran over, barking happily.

"Why don't you two just spend more time together?" Haley asked. She held up the fox. "And take this one with you. She wants to go with you now."

"Sure she does," Lena said, but she took the fox anyway.

"Have fun now." Haley waved.

It left no more room for conversation. So Lena turned and headed back to the castle with Levi and Max following. "Great. This is just stupid. How are we suppose to figure out why you're here if she wouldn't give any help? Maybe there's no reason at all. Maybe she did this just to make me miserable."

"Maybe you did it to make yourself miserable," Levi said.

"Excuse me?" Lena whipped around and glared at him. "Why would I do that?"  
"Maybe to justify yourself to get your parents to take you back home," Levi said.

"That's so stupid! Why would I ever do that? How would I even do that? I never saw that gem before! Same with your gear!" Lena shouted.

"You're being childish," Levi said.

"Oh? And how would you know? You didn't get ripped away from your friends!" Lena said.

"My friends were killed by titans right in front of me," Levi said.

Lena's anger disappeared.

"I'll never see them again because they're dead," Levi said. "But your friends are still alive, are the not?"

"Well, yeah. They are. But…"

"No buts," Levi said. "You can still talk to them, can't you? You can still go see them, right? I don't have that option."

"I'm sorry." Lena dropped her eyes to the fox in her arms. "I didn't think of it like that."

"Of course you didn't," Levi said. "You've only thought about yourself."

Lena ducked her head. He was right. She was only focusing on herself. She never looked past all that to the obvious. "I'm sorry."

"Really?" Levi asked.

"Yeah." Lena nodded. "I'm still upset, of course. But I can still talk to my friends. They're not dead. And neither am I."

Levi nodded before walking closer to her.

"What are you doing?" Lena asked just before he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against a tree. She opened her mouth to question him again but was cut off by his lips pressing against hers. His warm lips washed over hers. She blinked. The swirling red reappeared around her. He pulled back.

"Remember," Levi said just before disappearing. The fox disappeared as well leaving on the red gem in her hand.

Max barked.

Lena jumped and slid down the tree. "Well, that was…unexpected."

Max placed his nose on her cheek.

Lena smiled at the cold wetness and stroked his fur. "I'm all right. He was beyond cute but long distant relationships never work out. We should head back to the castle."

She pushed herself to her feet. With a snap of her fingers Max followed her back to the castle. She inspected the red gem. "I think I'll put this on a necklace and keep it."

Back in her room she put the gear back into the chest and the key back in the wall. She then finished cleaning up her room before dropping onto the bed. Not long after that her parents came home.

"So how'd it go?" Mom asked.

"Fine," Lena said.

"Anything of interest happen while we were gone?" Mom asked.

"Nope," Lena said. "Everything was…rather boring."

"Well, you seem different," Mom said.

"Just tired I guess," Lena said. "I've been busy all day."

"Maybe you should head to bed early then," Mom said.

"Maybe I will," Lena said.

Over the next few days Lena worked to get the red gem into a necklace. Once it was in place she wore it around her neck and never took it off. Finally the day came when she had to go to her new school. With her backpack on her shoulder, she crawled out of the vehicle and started at the three-story building in front of her.

"Have a good day, dear," Dad said.

"Yeah, right," Lena said. "I guess we'll see what happens."

She walked forward. Her first stop was the office where she got her schedule then was lead to her first class. The secretary exchanged a few words before the teacher told her to sit down in the empty seat at the back of the classroom. Relief flood over her. She hated sitting in the front row. She would always worry about falling asleep or drift off into a daydream then get embarrassed when the teacher caught her. She placed her bag on the back of the chair and sat down with a sigh. So it had finally started. Her _new life_ had officially begun today.

"It's never fun being the new kid," a boy to her left said.

"Yeah, you're telling m-" Lena said. She looked over at him and paused. Her heart slammed against her chest. His dark eyes, his black hair was unmistakable. "L…Levi?"

"Hm?" His eyes sparkled with mischievousness. "And how would someone as pretty as you know what my name is?"

"I didn't…you just…you can't be," Lena said. "But how can…it's not…"

"We'll talk at lunch," he said before the teacher started speaking.

Lena faced forward but her mind couldn't concentrate on what the teacher was saying at all. Her eyes kept going to the boy beside her. He looked so much like Levi. The rest of the day passed slowly. But finally lunch came.

"Come with me," he said.

Lena followed without question. He led her outside to the back of the school building.

"We'll be able to talk here," he said sitting down on the grass.

Lena sat down, placing her lunch bag on the ground beside her.

"I'm not the Levi you know." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a book then handed it to her. "But I'm related to him."

"He wrote about me?" Lena flipped through the book.

"He did," Levi said.

"This is just crazy," Lena said.

"It is," Levi said. "Most of my family didn't believe the story. But I couldn't help but be intrigued about it. Imagine my surprise when you appeared on the class roster."

"So you've been looking for me?" Lena asked.

"I guess so," Levi said. "I was curious after all. And it's nice to finally meet you."

"Same," Lena said. "I guess."

"It's hard to take in, isn't it?" Levi asked.

"Yeah." Lena nodded. She handed the book back to him and touched the gem. "I wonder if I can go back in time and see him."

"It might be possible," Levi said. "Do you know anything about the gem?"

"No." Lena shook her head.

"Well, then, I guess that's a mystery for another time," Levi said.

"Yeah." Lena nodded. "I guess it is."

 **Well, that was crappy.**


End file.
